Car-fender



2' Sheets-Sheet 1.`

(No Model.)

L. Q. CLLAMAR.

GAR FENDER.

5 Patented July 10, 1894. No. 522,90

w m m w Tm: wenn s mens c noto-L Tuo.. WASH Num". o. c.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

L. Q. 0. LAMAR. GAR FENDER.

No. 522,905. Patented .my 10, 1894.

` i; 2 ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LUCIUS Q. C. LAMAR, OF OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI.

CAR-FENDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 522,965, dated July 10,1894. Application filed March 3l, 1894. Serial No. 505,356. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern;

Be it known that LLUoIUs Q. C. LAMAR, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Oxford, county of Lafayette, State of Mississippi,have invented new and useful Improvements in Car-Fenders, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to safety attachments for street cars especiallycable and electric cars. Its general object is to prevent killing orinjuring persons or other beings struck by a moving car, and to avoidinjuring either car or passengers when the fender strikes fixed orimmovable obstacles.

More particularly, the invention relates to making the fending member ofreadily breakable material, to arranging such member to be thrown downinto contact with `the rails,

automatically and otherwise, to securing it, positively, in any desiredposition until it is released by human will, and to have the parts whichare most subject to injury easily and cheaply adjustable andreplaceable. Most fenders now in use for fear of striking someprojecting part of the road or road bed, are carried so far above thetrack that they readily pass over human limbs and then ride up over thebody, thus preventing escape that might otherwise be possible. which ithas been sought to make it less dangerous to carry the fender near thetrack only make this result more certain since they seize and hold eventhe garments and also aid in raising the fender so that the body maypass beneath. By making the directly-.fending member of readilydestructible material no danger arises from forcing it down upon the`track and while it has sufficient resistance to perhaps grind oif afinger passed beneath it by lying in some depression, and to raise orpush aside a human body, it breaksin meetinga rail end, astone'projecting too far above the general surface of a pavement, orother rigid object lying in its path. The material preferred is wood,though in many respects various` Well known, grainless, artificialboards are better since they cannot split but are simply torn awayenough to allow7 passing the resisting object.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side eleva tion of a car provided withnovel fending devices. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan of the The rollerswithA same devices. Figs. 3 and 4- show on a larger scale portions ofthe same devices. Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic plan of a slightly modifiedarrangement showing the fenders operable in connection with a commonwheel brake instead of a track brake. Figs. 6, and 7 show in elevationand diagrammatic plan means used when the fender is to be operatedthrough the agency of the grip lever of a cable car. Fig. S illustratesthe use of certain of my devices in a rigidly fixed fender. Fig. `9shows a different combination of the breakable member with otherfenders, either fixed or movable.

In Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4., A is a grip car and B, B are beams which incommon cars usually carry a pointed fender of some sort.

O is a swinging brake of common construction to which are connected therear ends of two parallel bars D, D joined at their somewhat lower frontends by a cross bar D to form a frame which becomes a platform by theaddition of wire netting E, wood or the like. These bars are forwardlysupported by inclined links F depending from the car and from theirObliquity necessarily lowering the front end of the platform when thelatter is drawn rearward in setting the brake to which it is attached.No novelty is herein claimed for these'devices. To the front end of thisplatform is hinged a downwardly and forwardly inclined, moderatelythick, board H of wood or other material readily tearablo or breakable,and this is swung down upon its hinges I by means of the track brakelever J, and otherwise, as will presently appear.

The hinges consist of a leaf G attached to the front of the platform anda second, forked leaf. G having in at least one branch a setscrew G toadj ust-ably retain the board which is slipped between the forkbranches. r

The leaves are so consti-noted that when the board is in its normalposition with its lower edge a little above the rail, where it is heldby a spring G shoulders G4 make upward movement impossible. Below thehinge axis are other shoulders G5 which limit, absolutely, the downwardswinging. When the board is swung downward from its normal position, asit may be accidentally by meeting any object in its path, or purposelyby devices to be described, all counter or returning move- IOO ment ispreventedby a spring-pressed, curved ratchet bar Ger-which, however, maybe released by a pull upon a rod or cord G7.

At the other end of the car, a fender board GS, of like material, ishinged, centrally, to an oblique beam B connecting the ends of theunequal beams B, B. This tending member extends entirely across thetrack, but very obliquely, in order that anyobjectstruck maybe pushedlaterally out of the cars path when it is run in the opposite direction,the intent being to have the board wide enough to prevent the objectfrom passing over it. Yet if it be narrower, or if for other reason theobject should pass over, it will fall upon a platform K, (Fig. 2.) Thisboard, like that at the other end of the car is normally held above thetrack by a spring G, While a pawl G1O limits its upward movement andholds it whenever it is swung downward enough to let the pawl pass atooth of the ratchet. plate G12. The pawl is, as in the other case,released by means of a rod ,or cord G13.

The swinging hinge leaf may extend upward and be bent back as a hook toretain Vthe upper edge of the board, whose lower side is made fast by aremovable bolt G14. Both the swinging boards may be drawn down by thesame movement that applies the track brake.

Upon one side of the track brake lever, J, is centrally pivoted a shortlever L whose ends are connected, respectively, by rods 0, O', to thefending member G9 and to thelower end of a lever M centrally pivoted toa fixed bearing. The opposite end of this latter lever is Y connected byarod Oto the central portion Vcfa freebarN, and from the endsnof thisbar run, respectively, rods O3 O4 connecting to the hinged fendingmember G and to the usual track brake (not shown).

Evidently the arms of the levers and bar may be so proportioned that theforce applied to the lever J will be divided in any desired ratiobetween the fenders and the brake; and practically most of it should beexpended upon the brake. f

Itis to be observed that if either of the fenders or the brake strikethe rails before the others and so cease to move downward, the swingingof the lever J may still be continued until all in succession arepressed firmly down against the rails. And further, the brake may bethereafter Worked as usual without releasing the fenders, should it bede- Shouldany rigid object be struck, no possible injury can result,beyond breaking outa more or less large portion of the board, which isof material and thickness adapting it to this end. And again, thisbreakable character makes it perfectly safe to force the fending memberdown firmly upon the track no matter what the speed of the car which, sofar as I am aware, has not heretofore been considered practicable. Itmay be said that the member will soon be destroyed. Probably, if thenecessity for depressing it shall often arise; not otherwise. And in anycase the cost of the board is almost nominal, and it may be quicklyreversed when the lower edge is too much worn or broken, and may withequal facility be replaced by. another, it being a simple matter tocarry others at all times upon the car.

In Fig.5 P represents a lever similar to the lever J but used forapplying the common wheel brake. To the side of this as before, ispivoted a short lever Q, one end of which is connected by a rod R to thebrakes of a trailer car, not shown and the other to both Sol the centralpart of a freerbar S and the end of a lever Q. The latter is centrallypivoted to a fixed support and has its other end joined `by a rod R tothe central portion of a free bar S', one end of which is connected by arod R3 to the usual wheel brake (not shown), and the other, by a rod'R4,to the fending member G8. In like manner, the ends of the bar S areconnected to the other wheel brake of the same car and to the otherfending member.

roo

Y WhenY it is desired to operate the fendersY f from the grip lever, ashort vertical lever T is pivoted in front of the latter to extendthrough the car floor,vwhere its lower end is connected by a rod U tothe end of a free bar V whose opposite end is joined, by a rod U', withthe free end of a lever T having its opposite end mounted upona fixedpivot. The central portions of the bar V and the lever T are connectedto the fending members, respectively, by rods U3, U4.

To the upper end of the lever T is pivoted a stiff bar W adapted toswing in the plane of the grip lever X into and out of the path of thelatter, and to be supported at either limit of its path by shouldersupon the bar T. Now the parts are so arranged that the grip is released,in the usual manner by swinging the grip lever over against the end ofthe bar W, which is ordinarily not moved by such operation. But if the'lever X be forcibly pressed still farther over, the bar W is caused tomove longitudinally and the lever Tswing: ing upon its pivot draws therod U and thus pulls down both fenders against the rails, where they areheld by devices similar to those shown in other figures of the drawings.

It is important that nothing whatever is attached to the grip operatingmechanism and hence that the latter may be removed in the usual Way, itbeing only necessary to swing the bar W upon its pivot, out of the way;and further, that the very movement which releases the grip,-the firstmovement in case of danger,throws the fenders down upon the track andlocks them there.

Fig. 8 shows a breakable board G1G used as a rigidly fixed fender, andFig. 9 illustrates the use of such board Gr1S to form the lower part ofa not readily breakable fender G17, either fixed or swinging.

It is evident that the lever by which my devices are operated may be aspecial lever instead of one of those used for the brakes or grip, andit is further evident that the fending member being very readilyremovable, a stronger member, Wholly or partially of steel, for example,may be temporarily put in its "place, and we then have, especially inthe case of the oblique member, a very effective and excellent snowplow.`

l. A fender having its fending member projecting, when in action, belowthe other parts of the fender and formed of material readily broken awayin meeting unyielding obstacles yet capable of resisting impact of thehuman body at any probable speed of a car. y

2. In a car fender, a tending member adapted to be broken away inmeeting objects that would otherwise endanger other portions of thefender, and means for forcing said member down against the surface overwhich said member passes.

3. In a car fender, a readily breakable board of suitable materialforming the obstructionmeeting member, detaehably and adj ustablysecured in front 'of the other parts and ar` ranged to extend materiallybelow the plane of such parts.

4. A oar fender having a fending member of readily destruetiblematerial, arranged to be lowered` from its normal position, and providedwith means for preventing the unwished for return of the member when ithas been so lowered.

5. In a car fender, the combination with a readily breakable fendingmember projecting below other parts of the device but normally a littleabove the rails, means for lowering said member at will, means forholding it when lowered, means for releasing it, and means for returningit to its normal position.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname, in presence of two witnesses, this 31st day of March,

LUOIUS Q. C. LAMAR. Witnesses:

WALLACE GREENE, WM. H. DE LACY.

